Luminescent maraca



Jan. 18, 1949. J TossAs 2,459,555

LUMINES CENT MARACAS Filed July -ll, 1946 Hazy/1102a] [flaws Patented Jan. 18, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUMINESCENT MARACA Raymond J. Tossas, New York, N. Y. Application July 11, 1946, Serial No. 682,899

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in sound producing devices and, more specifically, to a new and improved device which produces sounds by shaking it such as the so-called maracas or maricanas which are used by Spanish dancers and the like.

One object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which is made primarily of plastic material and which can be manufactured at a lower cost than the hitherto known devices which have been used for the same or similar purposes.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the character described which is of a highly attractive appearance, light in weight, and handy to grasp, to hold, and to manipulate so that various sound effects can be produced by different manners of manipulation of the device.

Still another object of the present invention it. the provision of a device of the character described which is partially provided with a luminous paint in order to produce a new optical effect, in addition to the sound effect, When the device is being used in a dimmed or darkened locality.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred 5 forms of the invention have been shown.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a preferred embodiment of my invention, and

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout both views.

In the drawing the numeral I denotes a hollow spherical member which consists preferably of a pair of hemispherical transparent shells 3 and 4 of plastic material or the like joined to one another at their edges by means of gluing, pastconsists of certain novel details of sible to produce surprising optical ing, or the like. One of said shells, the shell 4 in the instance shown, is provided with a soft layer 5 of luminous paint, which may be a layer of phosphorous or luminous powder, or a mixture of a preferably soft paint with phosphorous, or any other self-luminous substance.

A plurality of hard particles balls, small pieces of stone, or the interior 2 of the spherical member I in order to produce sound effects when the device is being shaken in a Well known manner. Upon such shaking the particles ID will take up some of the luminous paint and will themselves-after some shaking-become luminous. In this way it is poseifects in a darkened locality. For instance, if the performer at a special occasion uses a pair of new maracas made according to the present invention and provided with soft layers 5, the particles I0 will be invisible or will appear only as dark spots in a darkened locality at the beginning of the performance, whilewhen the performance progresses and when some of the paint of the layer 5 has been transferred to the particles I0the latter will appear as sparks. Or if, for instance, the outer side of the shell 3 is provided with a coat of opaque paint (not shown) the performer can by alternatingly changing the position of the device relative to the auditorium make the luminous part 5 appear or disappear or alter the size of that luminous part which is visible through the transparent wall of 4 to the spectators.

In order to facilitate the manipulation of the device, I prefer to provide it with a convenient handle which consists preferably of a rod I screwed into a reinforced portion 6 of the member l at 8 and provided with a thick coat 9 of plastic material or the like as may be seen in Figure 2.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claim is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein delil, such as small the like is within scribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a sound producing instrument consisting of a pair of hemispherical transparent shells joined together so as to form a hollow spherical member and being provided with a handle, the combination of a layer of self-luminous substance attached to the inner side of one of said shells, with a plurality of hard particles enclosed with- RAYMOND J. TOSSAS.

REFERENCES CITED T -e following references are of record in the ii-e of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Decosta Apr. 20, 1920 Desmond July 10, 1945 

